Egypt gives leading Islamists 20-year prison sentences
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}An Egyptian criminal court sentenced a top Muslim Brotherhood member and a prominent Islamist preacher to 20 years in prison Tuesday after finding them guilty of abducting and torturing two police officers last summer and leading a terrorist organization, the country's official news agency reported.
Mohamed el-Beltagy, a leading member of the Brotherhood and secretary-general of its political party, the Freedom and Justice Party, was convicted alongside ultraconservative cleric Safwat Higazy on charges of kidnapping, detaining and torturing police officers in a field hospital during last summer's sit-in by supporters of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi. Morsi was ousted in July 2013 following mass protests against him.
The two also were convicted of leading a terrorist organization founded to "attack the freedoms of civilians and harm national unity and society's well-being," the state news agency said. The government had declared the Brotherhood a terrorist organization soon after Morsi's ouster, accusing it of waging a violent campaign against the government. The group denied the allegation.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Two doctors present during the Rabaa sit-in also were sentenced to five years in prison.
Lawyer Mohammed el-Damaty, who represented el-Beltagy during the trial, said he quit the trial in recent weeks, accusing judges of bias against the Brotherhood. El-Damaty alleged the lead judge dismissed crucial evidence favoring the defendants.
Judges don't comment publicly on their rulings in Egypt. A new defense team took up the case before the verdict.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Egyptian government has cracked down on the Brotherhood, killing hundreds of its members, arresting thousands more and carrying out mass trials following the July 3 military overthrow of Morsi.